Haworth to Hebden Bridge walk

Haworth to Hebden Bridge

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Distance: 10.3 miles.
Time without long breaks: Apx 6 hours (not including rail trip).

Terrain: Some steep climbs and uneven surfaces in places.
How to get there and back: Haworth is on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which is a great way to get there. Trains run to Keighley from Leeds. Hebden Bridge is on the Trans-Pennine Manchester to Leeds line.
Pub breaks: Apart from the ones In Haworth, the only pubs are towards the end of the walk (so take some provisions to keep you going). We recommend a stop-off at the Blue Pig, a working men's club in Midgehole (see below). Heptonstall has the White Lion and the Cross Inn.
More information: This is not a walk to attempt in poor weather. Most of the route is on an isolated ridge running across the top of the moors, with no shelter. The terrain can also make it slippery underfoot when wet. A reasonable level of fitness is required for some of the steep climbs.

This is a fantastic walk with far-reaching views over the rugged green landscape of the Yorkshire moors and the Calder Valley. Beginning with a journey on a heritage railway, it includes a visit to the Bronte parsonage in Haworth, before climbing high into the hills along a ridge following an old packhorse route that eventually descends to Hardcastle Crags and Hebden Bridge. Sites of interest include Lumb Hole Falls, which inspired locally-born Ted Hughes to write his poem Six Young Men, and the ruined church in the stunning village of Heptonstall, which is the resting place of the poet Sylvia Plath (see panel).

Haworth is the penultimate stop on the superbly restored Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (if starting from Leeds, catch a train to Keighley, which takes about 25 mins). If you have visited Haworth before, or want a shorter walk (8.5 miles), stay on until the final stop and alight at Oxenhope station. You can then join the route at Marsh Methodist chapel (see below). The stop before Haworth is Oakworth, famously the setting for the classic children's film The Railway Children. If the trains aren't running, there are regular buses from Keighley to Haworth.

The parsonage was the home to Patrick Bronte and his six children (five of whom died in the house), together with his wife and his sister-in-law. All of the siblings died from tuberculosis or its complications, thought to be brought about by water contaminated by the nearby graveyard. The house was where the sisters developed their imaginations through writing and oral storytelling. It is startling to think that two of the greatest works of English literature, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, were written within its walls. The overgrown graveyard, the sisters' playground and no doubt a source of dark inspiration, is also worth exploring.

This next section follows the Bradford Millennium Way. Turn right as you exit the park, go past a postbox, then turn left by the house and take the track that passes through Upper Marsh farm. The path emerges at Marsh Lane. Take a left and then take the track that runs down the side of the Methodist chapel (this is where you can join the route if starting from Oxenhope). After a few metres, take the path on the right that leads to Mould Greave. Rather than follow the Millennium Way, carry on along the path in the same direction. This leads to a house with a driveway. The path heads south, but you can walk along the drive to Shaw Lane.

Follow the track until it becomes a lane, passing Thurish farmhouse on the right. Ignoring the turning on the left, continue downhill until you reach Grain Water Bridge. Then turn off the lane and take the track on the right, following the Calder/Aire Link as indicated by the signpost. There is another steep climb here, up Baby House Hill. This part of the walk is littered with abandoned stone houses. Carry on along the ridge until the Calder/Aire Link turns right. Here, take the path on the other side, which runs down the hill on your left. This is Sunny Bank Road, which leads to Lumb Falls. It's a short detour off the main route, which can be skipped if you'd prefer to carry on straight ahead.

About 500m further on, after you pass a farm at Crimsworth Dean, there is another short detour. Take the turning on the right, that bends sharply round. You will shortly come to Abel Cross (although it appears to be two crosses, they are actually separated halves). This is an old wayside marker, built to guide travellers along the remote byway and provide spiritual sustenance. Continue in the same direction and turn into the field on your left. On the other side, there is a stile built into a stone wall which takes you back to the main track (alternatively, just return the way you came).

Follow the lane over a small stone bridge ('New Bridge') and follow it round to the left alongside the river. The low white building on the right-hand side is Midgehole Working Men's Club, also known as the Blue Pig. This place came to our rescue when we'd got completely drenched after spending the last few miles walking in the slating rain (they happened to have a beer festival on at the time, too). It's in a great location to take a break before the next stretch of the walk. It is a members' club, though, rather than a pub, so you may be asked to pay a small temporary membership fee.

Alternatively, from the Blue Pig turn left and take the path on the left on the other side of the next building. When you get to a lane cross over and take the stone steps, heading in the direction indicated by the post. The path through the woods is quite difficult to follow, but it bends round to the left while climbing steeply. You should find yourself at the bottom of some steep stone steps (take care if slippery) which ascend the right side of a rocky promontory. When at the top, head across a plantation to Drapers Lane. Turn left and in a short distance take the path opposite by the sign. This cuts across to join Townfield Lane, a track between low stone walls with which takes you straight to Hepstontall. After passing the first three houses turn left into Northgate.

Go across the road to the museum and the spectral ruins of Thomas a Becket church. Originally built in the mid-13th century, it was destroyed by a gale in 1847. The newer church was built alongside it, but the ruins of the old one were never removed. Beyond the new church, is the 'new' graveyard, where Sylvia Plath is buried (see below). Her grave is towards the eastern side, about two thirds of the way along. If you can't find it, just ask one of the locals. This graveyard is also the resting place of a more obscure American poet, the founder of Trigram Press, Asa Benvenite. His epitaph reads 'Foolish Enough to have been a Poet'.

The path through the woods can be uneven going. Follow it down and round the hill as it bends around to the left. When the track straightens out towards the bottom of the hill, there is a waymarker sign with various options, which indicates that you can cut down through the trees to your right. Instead, keep ahead bearing left along the track that starts to ascend back up again, skirting around the hill. This joins the driveway to a house which comes out on the outskirts of Hebden Bridge, at the junction of Heptonstall Road and Lee Wood Road. Cross over at the junction and turn left into Lee Wood Road, then immediately right to reach the top of a long, steep downhill path called The Buttress.

On leaving Haworth station, take the pedestrian exit on the right over the bridge. Head down Butt Lane and then take a left into the park, heading diagonally across for the far corner. This will take you to near the bottom of Main Street. Haworth is a very picturesque village, although it is obviously a magnet for tourists due to its Bronte sisters connections. Walk up the hill and turn left at the top to reach the church, which contains the Bronte family vault, and the parsonage. Even if you are not particularly a Bronte fan, the Parsonage Museum is definitely worth a visit.

Head to the gate in the far corner of the graveyard and walk up the path past some allotments and chicken hutches. After about 200m, take a right and follow the Bronte Way which comes out at Dimples Lane. Cross over the road to reach Penistone Hill Country Park and follow the path that bears left, initially continuing along the Bronte Way. After about 300m, turn left at a junction of paths (the park is easy to get lost in, so best to follow the map on here). Follow the tracks towards the triangulation point, then join the path heading SSW until you reach a cricket pavilion. Then head south to join a track which leads to the southern exit from the park.

There are two options here. You can go straight across and down Hawksbridge Lane, turning off at the mill to take a short uneven footpath through a cow field, following the course of a beck. The easier, more direct route is to simply turn right and then left into Lee Lane. This takes you past Leeshaw reservoir. From here, you begin the steep ascent into the hills. Head up Bodkin Lane, with views of the reservoir behind. About half-way along it joins the course of the Calder/Aire Link long distance footpath. Past Bodkin Top, the track becomes Stairs Lane, and becomes steeper and rockier, until you reach the summit, Top of Stairs.

The track descends steeply to Crimsworth Dean Beck, where you will see the waterfalls and an old stone packhorse bridge. A photograph taken at this local beauty spot just before the outbreak of the First World War was the inspiration for a Ted Hughes poem (see panel below). Look out for the plaque. This is a great place to take a well-deserved break before the steep trek back up the hill. Go back the way you came, but take the fork on the left after the ruined building to rejoin the track slightly further along.

Carry on along the main track as before, with a wood to your left. After the wood ends, you will come to a field followed by a turning on the right. Continue straight ahead through the woods, as the track descends to Hardcastle Crags, a National Trust country park comprising over 400 acres of unspoilt woodland. You emerge at Midgehole car park. Turn left along the lane, which is flanked by low stone walls and take the turning on the right marked by a T-junction sign with a letterbox in the wall (if you continue just beyond this turning, incidentally, you will find some toilets).

There are two options for getting from here to Heptonstall. Both are fairly steep climbs, but the alternative route marked on the map is the more challenging. The easiest choice is to continue in the direction you were heading in, along the Calderdale Way. Carry on along this path, taking the right-hand fork. Continue up a steep climb via some steps through the woods before emerging at Draper Lane. Cross over the road to the track opposite, which initially runs almost parallel to the road. This is Northwell Lane, which carries on ascending through the woods before reaching some houses, with some great views to the left. Carry on along the lane which joins Northgate in Heptonstall village.

Walk down Northgate then turn left down a small lane to reach the octagonal Methodist church, once visited by John Wesley. Rejoin the lane which comes out at the centre of the village. With its cobbled streets, tightly-packed terraced houses and old churches, Heptonstall, which was originally a centre for hand weaving, seems almost frozen in time. There are two pubs – The Cross Inn and, a few doors down, the White Lion. The Cross is famous as the haunt of the Cragg Vale Coiners, an 18th-century counterfeiting gang. Rumour has it that 'King of the Coiners' David Hartley (who is buried in Heptonstall) murdered a potential informer by throwing him into the fire in the pub. The story of the Coiners is told in fiction form in Ben Myers' novel The Gallows Pole.

Leave the graveyard by the eastern exit along Back Lane and turn right to follow a narrow lane between houses, following the route of the Calderdale Way. Cross over residential Hepton Drive carrying along the lane and then take an immediate right along a path bordered by stone walls. Cross another residential road (Becketts Close) and continue along the path until it reaches the edge of the woods and a T-junction. The Calderdale Way turns right here but take the path straight ahead, down the steps to Hell Hole rocks. There are warning signs here but the climb down isn't really too intimidating. You soon reach a small glade at the foot of the rocks. Turn left along the clear path, which has views of the Calder Valley to the right below.

When The Butress emerges at a road, turn right into Old Gate, following Hebden Water, and you will come to the Old Gate pub and restaurant. Hebden is famous for its artistic community and its large LGBTQ+ population. Other pubs include Stubbing Wharf (see below), the Shoulder of Mutton and, for craft beer lovers, the Vocation Brewery taproom. It also has one of the best music venues in the country, The Trades Club. By this stage you will probably be in need of nourishment, but if you are heading straight to the station, it's about half a mile from Old Gate. Turn left then take the next right (Holme Street). Cross the bridge over the canal at the end of the street and head diagonally across the park.

The landscape of the Calder Valley and the West Yorkshire moors provided a rich source of material for the poet Ted Hughes, who was born in Mytholmroyd, just outside Hebden Bridge, in 1930. His poems include Stubbing Wharf, about the Hebden pub of the same name, which is still there today, by the Rochdale canal. He also wrote a collection called Remains of Elmet to accompany photographs of the area by Fay Godwin. Perhaps his most famous work with a local connection, though, is Six Young Men. This was inspired by a photograph of a group of friends on a 'Sunday jaunt' to Lumb Hole Falls, which Hughes once described as his 'sacred place'. The men were about to join the Allied forces on the Western Front and were all killed in action: 'One imparts an intimate smile/ One chews a grass, one lowers his eyes, bashful/ One is ridiculous with cocky pride/ Six months after this picture they were all dead.'

When Hughes and Sylvia Plath, who he had met at Cambridge, were in the first years of their marriage, the couple would often stay with his parents at a house called The Beacon on the edge of Heptonstall. The landscape would inspire Plath on her visits here, in poems such as Wuthering Heights, Two Views of Withens (the name of the ruined farmhouse rumoured to be the setting for Emily Bronte's classic), Hardcastle Crags and November Graveyard, the latter written about the very place where Plath would be laid to rest. The couple split after Hughes had an affair and Plath, who had long struggled with her mental health, died by suicide in 1963. Hughes said he decided to bury Plath in Heptonstall because it was where they had been happiest. There have been attempts to remove Hughes' name from her gravestone, following accusations of blame for her death and revelations of abuse. He responded to the issues which defined their tumultuous relationship in his final collection, Birthday Letters, which was published just months before his death in 1998. 'Your ghost', he writes, 'inseparable from my shadow'. KB

Full-day country walks in SE England and beyond

Haworth to Hebden Bridge

Click on the image below to access the full map on plotaroute

Full-day country walks in
SE England and beyond

Click on the image below to access
the full map on plotaroute